This year, I’ve been reading through Paul’s letters to the church. I’m in Titus as I write, and I’ve been thinking about self-control. Trina Bresser Matous, author of “Paul’s Letters to the Early Church”, says “Self-control means resisting temptation and includes control emotionally, physically and in one’s thoughts”.
My thoughts run away with me sometimes. I haven’t written about this much, but being told I needed hearing-aids was a huge thing for me: Not so much on a practical level (I got used to cleaning them and changing the batteries pretty quickly), but more emotionally. I never expected to have hearing-aids before I was forty and as a blind person, being deaf-blind is an awful prospect. It’s up there with getting dementia – one of those things you hope will never happen. Thankfully, I can still hear quite well. I’m a long way from being completely deaf, although the hearing-aids help with clarity of speech, but it left me with feelings of uncertainty. If God allowed me to be deaf-blind, He might allow other things too. When sleep is a struggle, I do think about that and wonder how I’ll manage if … Perhaps that’s a situation where ‘Self-control in one’s thoughts’ is called-for. Paul talks about taking every thought captive and making it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5), but what does that involve? I think it means going back to the Bible for God’s perspective. How will I manage if no one’s here and I get ill? Well, Philippians 4:19 says God will meet all my needs. Maybe that’s all I need to know. And when I can’t sleep and worry that I won’t be at my best? Psalm 127:2 tells us God gives His beloved sleep. I know He loves me, so I can trust Him for that.
Self-control might sound repressive, but when I think about it, it’s for my benefit. Have you got any examples of how it’s helped you in your life?
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